


Growing Dragon

by malik_zaki



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Dreams and Nightmares, Fantasy, Nightmare, Other, Overwatch AU, Protective Siblings, Siblings, Spirited Away AU, cant think of any more tags, dream - Freeform, halp, spirited away & narnia concept
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9385835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malik_zaki/pseuds/malik_zaki
Summary: Genji goes on a supernatural and dreamlike journey to find out whom he was and where he once belonged, with the desperate need to find his older brother. The only blood relative who he hopes to still be alive.His journey will take him to magical and beautiful places, along with making memorable friends along the way to help him.





	1. The Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Genji's dream trying to tell him something?

_The same dream kept on reoccurring over and over again almost every time Genji closed his eyes._  
_He was only a small boy, being pulled along rather hastily by another who was just a few years older than him. The other had long black flowing hair and kinda looked like a girl from behind, and Genji remembered vividly that he called the older boy Hanzo… Big brother.  
  
There were tall dark silhouettes of multiple men chasing after them, all armed with katanas.  
Stopping was not an option.  
The boys ran through the eerily quiet village, taking all the twists and turns down alleyways and running through the villagers gardens to lose the men and reach their hiding spot, which only they knew of.  
Genji was so frightened, but at the same time he felt safe as Hanzo held him close in a protective embrace.  
  
“It’s too dangerous for you to stay here, Genji… These men won’t stop until you’re dead.”  
  
“Wah- What did I do wrong, anija?” As tears began to fill the youngsters eyes.  
  
The eldest tightened his embrace and even ran his fingers through the youngsters hair, trying to calm him.  
“Nothing, Genji… You’ve done nothing wrong. These are assassins… They’re very bad men.”  
  
“What should we do?... Wh-Where will we go?”  
  
“We’re going to wait here until nightfall, and till the heat dies down a little. Then we’ll go down by the lake…”  
Every word pained Hanzo as he knew what was to come.  
  
He was afraid to look Genji in the eye incase he would break down in tears front of him. He needed to be strong for him… For them both.  
“From there we’ll have to sneak you onto a boat and-”  
  
“But what about you?” Genji interrupted as fat tears began to roll down his cheeks.  
  
“They’re not after me, so I’ll be fine. I can keep them distracted so they don’t reach you… You should be safe on the other side.”  
  
“I’ve never been on the other side of the lake, anija… Where do I go?... What should I do?” The youngster started to sobbed.  
  
“Genji… Gen_ ji… Genji!”  
  
Genji grumbled and groaned as he fidgeted in his seat, finding it hard to open his tired and heavy eyes. He had woken up to a rather frustrated bus driver shouting down the vehicle at him.  
Any remaining passengers had all turned in their seats and were scowling at him also, all annoyed and wanting to get home.  
  
“Sorry, Driver.” He apologized in a rough croaky voice.  
  
It took so much energy and effort to move his exhausted body from his seat and down the isle. Getting off the bus without collapsing was his next challenge, which he miraculously managed to avoid.  
  
“Sorry.” Genji apologized again to the driver, bowing his head in respect.  
  
“This is the hundredth time you’ve fallen asleep on my bus… Maybe you should go to bed early and not play video games through out the night.” The driver huffed, before closing the doors and driving off.  
  
Going to bed early has never helped either.  
No amount of sleeping tablets or herbal remedies could stop his body from feeling so restless… Always waking up tired.  
He’d much prefer to play games and fall asleep at his desk, rather than lying in bed and waiting to finally drift off.  
  
\-----  
  
Genji couldn’t remember the journey back home at all, as by now his body was running on autopilot. He didn’t even remember going onto his computer to play a few matches of Overwatch either.  
It weren’t like he was playing the game properly though. He was mostly running aimlessly around the map, looking lost and occasionally stopping dead in his tracks.  
  
“Geeeenjiii, come ooon.” A whine sounded through the headset.  
  
“Get your head in the game!”  
  
“Sorry, D.va.” Genji groaned as he rubbed at his tired eyes, then running a hand through his brightly green coloured hair.  
  
“Dude, you sound so wrecked… What’s up?”  
  
“Just super tired.”  
  
“Is it that dream again?”  
  
“Yeah…” Genji yawned as he tried his best to focus on the game.  
“The same one every night. It’s coming more and more regularly now, even when I close my eyes for just five minuets…”  
  
“Maybe it’s a sign.”  
  
“A sign for what?”  
  
“A sign to finally go find your brother… Find out if this dream of yours is really real. Which would be super cool by the way!”  
  
“Running for your life from assassins isn’t cool, D.va.” Genji sounded rather irritated as he rubbed at his tense brows.  
  
“Well I think it’s cool…”  
It was clear that D.va was pouting from such a response, just from the sound of her voice.  
  
“Still. Ask your parents if you had a brother… Find out where you’re really from. We can totally visit there together!!” She squealed rather excitedly.  
  
“I might do in the morning. If I even remember this conversation that is.” He drawled.  
“Anyway. I’m gonna go to bed now… My eyes are starting to really hurt me.”  
  
“That’s cool, bro! Message me if you find out anything!”  
  
“Yeah, yeah… Later.”  
  
\-----  
  
_“Brother, I’m scared… What if they follow me?” Genji blubbered as he refused to let go of the eldest’ sleeve; while the two headed for the lake._  
  
_“They won’t… I won’t let them. Now listen to me, Genji…” Hanzo said sternly, as he placed both hands onto the youngsters tear streaked cheeks._  
 _“Once you’ve crossed the lake, you’ll see a red building with a small clock tower on the top… Go through that building, ok?... Those assassins can’t follow you through there.”_  
  
_“What’s on the other side, brother?”_  
  
_Hanzo didn’t respond to that question, as he didn’t know what was on the other side either. He had only heard the stories about that building from the villagers and his father, where who ever ventured through there, had never returned._  
 _It was Genji’s best and only chance of survival though._  
  
_“B-Brother?” The youngster whimpered as he began to worry even more now._  
  
_“There’s no time to explain.” Hanzo finally spoke, as he lead Genji closer to a small wooden fishing boat, that was lonely bobbing about in the dark lake; having to pick his little bother up and ease him in._  
  
_“Just keep paddling straight, ok?... Aim for the lights of the night markets over there.” He pointed out, even though the youngster weren’t looking anywhere near that direction. Not while his face was buried in his happi._  
  
_Genji sobbed harder and gripped Hanzo’s clothing even tighter, not wanting to ever let go._  
  
_“Genji, please.” His voice wavered as he tired his best to not break down into tears also._  
 _“You have to go now before they find us… It’ll be ok.” He reassured, as he ran his fingers through the youngsters dark hair; hoping it would calm him even a little._  
  
_“Will I ever see you again, anija?” His voice slightly muffled as he kept his face buried onto Hanzo’s shoulder._  
  
_“Of course… I will come and find you once things calm down.” He added softly as he placed a small kiss on top of Genji’s head, before having to pry the boy off of him._  
  
_The water was freezing and it took Hanzo’s breath away as he waddled in waist deep. He deemed it necessary to go in and boost the boat further out into the lake, just to make up for lost time in saying their goodbyes. And just before the boat was pushed out, Hanzo felt the warmth of soft fabric draped over his neck._  
 _He held one end of the material in his hand and his eyes began to well up, noticing that it was Genji’s favorite orange scarf._  
  
“… Dammit.” Genji muttered and rubbed his arm across his face, as he woke up in tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More will come soon.  
> This story is influenced and themed by the film, Spirited away and also the draws created by theinsanefruitloop-chan (on tumblr)  
> You will soon see where the 'Narnia' concept comes into play when the story continues.
> 
> If there's any spelling or grammar errors then please let me know, as i'm not great with writing.
> 
> *edit*  
> I'm still getting used to this site, so please excuse the story title error


	2. First clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji finds out a little more about himself, but will that one clue help him find out about his past?

Genji dragged his feet along the laminate flooring before practically throwing himself onto his seat at the breakfast table, feeling tired and rather down from last nights dream.  
  
“You’re looking rough, dear… You should try getting off your games and start going to bed early.”  
  
A deep and heavy grumble sounded from the lad, growing tired and frustrated with the same ‘advise’ everyone gives him. Again with the whole ‘going to bed early’ subject… It hardly works when he does try, and Genji was certain his parents knew about it.  
  
“I’m just saying, dear.”  
  
“I knooow.” He exasperated as he rested his weighty head in one hand, whilst playing with his breakfast before him with the other.  
  
The parents exchanged glances to one another as if they were mentally arguing on who should ask their young sparrow what was up; with the mother either losing that imaginary argument or just giving in and doing it herself.  
  
“What’s wrong, sweetie?... Is it college?” She spoke softly as she placed a reinsuring hand on the boys shoulder.  
  
Silence fell upon the room as Genji took his time to figure out how he should word his question, his tired mind struggling to keep up with him and form even the simplest of sentences.  
  
“Do I have a brother?” He finally spoke.  
  
Even before either parent could say anything, Genji already knew their answer by the way they gazed at one another.  
  
“I’m sorry, dear… But we don’t know what happened to your family, let alone how many siblings you may have had.”  
  
“So you don’t know where abouts I came from before you fostered me?” Genji asked sounding utterly defeated, his eyes falling down towards his untouched breakfast.  
He desperately wanted something to at least go by… Anything! Just so he could feel less empty inside. Maybe he could even backtrack the information to its source, and hopefully unearth any forgotten memories of his real family.  
  
“Well…” The father uttered, which yanked Genji’s attention immediately.  
  
“Before we fostered you, we actually found you. You were lost in a huge forest… Hanamura forest, I think it’s called-”  
  
A small spark ignited in the boys chest, feeling some of his tiredness being lifted thanks to this new information his father gave him. But it didn’t seem like his dad was done talking yet.  
  
“-The place was super creepy with all these small stone shrines along the pathway. Weren’t it dear!” He stopped for a moment for his wife to confirm its spookiness with a small hum and a nod.  
“Like little stone houses for spirits… It felt like the place was haunted.”  
  
Genji couldn’t care less if the place was truly haunted or not. He was just happy that he now had two clues to go by!  
Hanamura forest and stone shrines.  
  
\-----  
  
The next day Genji decided to take a detour on his way to college… A huge detour to be more precise.  
Hanamura forest was about an hour bus ride from where he lived. And given how huge the place was, he figured he’d be in there throughout most of the day; possibly still hunting for the very spot his parents had found him.  
He needed those daylight hours, and he really didn’t want to waste them in a stuffy, warm classroom. So he chose to skip college altogether.  
The fresh air could possibly do him some good anyway.  
  
D.va would be annoyed with him for sure for being left behind, since she was like Genji’s partner in crime when it came to stuff like bunking off school. Plus she was ever so excited to help him find out if he had a brother or not.  
“A day out!” She would happily screech.  
Maybe another day… Genji felt like he needed to do this himself.  
  
With no distractions…  
  
_“A-Ani.” Genji blubbered to himself._  
  
_His sniffles and sobs echoed off the walls as he slowly walked through the building he was told to go through. And before leaving out onto the other side, he had stopped to look back… Hoping to see his brother there following right him._  
_Instead, all he saw was a thick black void filling the doorway he had just come from._  
  
_It was as if someone had turned off all the lights to the world on the other side._  
_The sight of it was truly terrifying and it scared the boy almost half to death, which then caused him to start running; hoping to get outta there before the darkness could reach him._  
  
_A small mouse like screech slipped from Genji’s lips when he felt the sudden cold air hit him in the face, along with fat heavy drops of rain._  
  
_‘What is this? It was a clear, moon lit sky not too long ago… Where did all these clouds come from?’ The boy thought to himself before a crack of thunder interrupted him._  
_He shrieked even loudly this time as he cowered down, covering his ears in fear of another sudden loud boom._  
  
_Genji was scared… Scared of this foreign place_  
  
_Scared of thunder…_  
  
_But what frightened him the most was not seeing his brother ever again._  
  
_The weather was growing worse and worse by the second, and the only means of shelter was a small wooden shack; which sat along side the stone walkway for travellers to have a break from walking._  
_It would have to do till things calmed down._  
_Inside was filled with many stone shrines, which barely left him any room. Thankfully he had found himself a dry corner to curl up in._  
  
_“I don’t like this place.” He sobbed and sniffled, as he curled up into a tight ball in order to try and keep warm._  
  
  
“Next stop, Hanamura Forest.” The bus driver announced through the speaker, to which Genji sat up rather sharply to in a short moment of panic.  
Damn… Another dream.  
Hopefully they would begin stop once he learns more about his past.  
  
“Woah… This place is much bigger than I thought.” He spoke to himself in awe as he stepped off the bus, gawping at the rich colours of nature all around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a little longer to write as i was a little distracted with playing Overwatch. HAHA.  
> Hopefully the next chapter won't take long to write, and i hope you enjoy the story so far!!
> 
> Again, If there's any spelling or grammar errors then please let me know, as i'm not great with writing.


	3. Following the trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the trail, but would Genji be able to ever return?  
> Will he find Hanzo?

A red Shinto shrine sat at the base of the forests edge, which seemed like the only main entrance in. The starting line to Genji’s search.  
He gazed up at the towering structure for a few moments, deeply inhaling and exhaling the fresh air.   
‘ _Please let me find something_.’ He pleaded to himself in his mind, before taking his first steps in.  
  
The forest felt otherworldly with its thick, gigantic trees looming over the moss covered pathway. It was a good idea that Genji came here during the day, as it grew pretty dark the deeper he went. His main source of light were small sun spots dotting about the place, which shone through the breaks between the leaves.  
He had to watch his footing as some parts were rather slippery to step on, along with the stairs and flooring being uneven through years of wear and tear.  
  
This search was going to take a while… There were small stone shrines no matter where Genji looked. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them all placed along each side of the pathway. He wasn’t expecting this many to be out here.  
He also couldn’t help but to stop a few times to observe some of them a little more closely.  
  
“Man, some of these must be really old…” He spoke to himself as he knelt down at a cluster of shrines, his eyes mainly drawn to those that looked more out of place.  
  
“Hmmm… Some of these must have been placed here by a tourist, wanting to be buried here or something.” He went on to add, as he glided his thumb along a slightly weathered, red neck scarf, which was wrapped round a small stone cross. And not far from that sat an Egyptian stone jar or urn, which bared the head of Horus on the top. Something he remembered reading about whilst in history class… How strange for one of those to be here of all places.   
The two odd ones weren’t new, but neither were they old looking like the others.   
  
Shrines – A huge check off his list. Now all he had to do was find that small wooden shack from his dream… He dearly hoped there weren’t loads of them dotted around the forest; otherwise he’d be in there for days.   
It already felt like he’s been in there for hours.  
  
\-----  
  
Genji cursed quietly to himself as he came to a three way split in his path, leaving him the options to either go left or right, or to continue forward.  
What route would his foster parents likely to have picked?... Maybe the one that looked used by travelers today, perhaps.   
The only problem with that, was that all three looked like they were still being used…  
  
Might as well pick one and hope for the best.  
  
Just as Genji was about to pick a route, he paused again for a moment; looking as if he was having second thoughts.   
He could hear a whisper telling him to go right, or maybe it was the sudden gust of wind whistling past his ear. But he also had a tugging sensation in his gut that was pulling him that very way too.   
It soon became overwhelming and confusing again on what option to pick, but in the end Genji went with his gut instinct and took the path to his right.   
  
“You better be right on this one.” As he poked his own stomach.   
  
\-----  
  
Looking at his phone, Genji had noticed that about two hours had already passed. He had also noticed that there was absolutely no reception either. So he better not have an accident out here, otherwise it would be a long crawl back to that Shinto shrine.  
  
He was about to lose all hope on the track he had chosen and was about to turn back. That was until he spotted something in the thicket of overgrown bushes and vines… Could it be?!  
He hurried as fast as his tired legs would allow him, all whilst trying to avoid slipping on any patches of moss, his heart racing from excitement and nervousness.   
Oh please be the right place! Please, oh please!  
  
It was certainly a wooden shack. A little weathered and overgrown with nature, but a shack nonetheless. It was almost unrecognizable from the outside, but once Genji stepped inside, it had brought back vivid images from his dream.  
He’s certainly been here before… He could feel it.  
  
The shrines seemed to be in the exact same places as they were from his dream. His eyes then wandered over towards the corner of the room, where he could easily see a vision of his much younger self all curled up in the corner, soaked to the bone and trying to stay warm.  
  
“The time I had natural black hair.” Genji quietly chuckled to himself, as he ruffled his now brightly green coloured hair.  
  
He felt a small sense of achievement for getting this far, but the search still wasn’t over. Now he had to figure out where these points would lead him next. Hopefully to that strange building Hanzo had told him to go through.  
  
He was half expecting another dream or a flashback to hit him, hoping it would point him in the right direction. But one never came.  
  
“Oh, when I WANT to have the dream, it never comes… Typical.” He pouted as he poked his head out from inside the shack.   
“Guess I should continue up the same path.” He spoke to himself, before his eyes widened by a rare sight that was sitting at the top of the pathway… A fox.  
A beautiful orange coated fox staring right at him.  
  
Genji tilted his head at it with slight confusion, looking too innocent for the creature to feel threatened by him. Weren’t foxes nocturnal animals?  
Just what was it doing out this early, and above all… Was it waiting for him?   
  
“You want me to follow you?”  
  
It was as if it understood him, as the fox responded with a loud yip before dashing further up the stone steps.  
  
“Woah! Wait up there, buddy!!” Genji burst out as he ran after it.  
  
\-----  
  
Gone… The beautiful creature was gone. But it all weren’t in vain, as the fox had lead him directly to the very building he was looking for. Maybe it had made the place into a den for it’s young… Nice choice.  
His heart began pounding hard against his chest once more, either from excitement and nerves, or from the short run.   
It was possibly both.   
With the lack of sleep, Genji didn’t exactly feel like a spring chicken to walk, let alone run anywhere.   
  
This is it…   
His dreams were becoming more like lost memories to him now, memories that he planned to recover. The next step now was to walk back through that station and onto the other side.  
  
One step, then another, his body walking automatically on its own through the pitch dark tunnel. Even as the thick shadows gradually begun enveloping round him, along with fear slowly creeping up his spine the further he ventured, his legs continued going for him.

  
Why hasn’t he hit a wall yet?   
And literally the moment that thought crossed his mind, a blinding bright light suddenly opened up and chased away the darkness. Genji had to shield his eyes from it, as it was like someone was shining a torch directly into his face.  
  
“What the hell?!” He flinched.  
And as he spoke, he had noticed the tone of his voice sounded higher than usual. Almost like a child’s.  
  
Genji squinted and blinked to try and adjust to the sudden brightness. And the moment he could see clearly, his mouth fell open.  
It was the market place he had to pass through on that dreadful night! It was daytime now, and he could see more of the stalls much better, but there’s no mistake about it! This was the very market he had walked through.  
And just to fully confirm it, Genji turned towards the building and gazed up to see the small clock tower on the very top.  
  
“What the hell?!” He repeated even louder this time, as he soon noticed that his way back was now blocked by a locked gate.  
  
“How did I… What??” He sounded so dumfounded as he rattled the bars. The gate firmly locked.  
It was then Genji noticed how small his hands were, and his trendy clothing he was wearing before had changed into white robes, with orange arm and leg greaves… The clothing he wore when he left this place.   
All that was missing was his orange scarf, which he remembered leaving it with Hanzo.   
  
“What the actual hell?!” He repeated again, but sounding more panicky this time round as he looked down at his own body.  
  
He was a kid again!... How did this happen?!  
Surely this was a new dream he was having or something!   
Maybe he had pass out back in that building, and is currently lying unconscious on the floor from lack of sleep.   
Just so many questions left unanswered.   
  
“Hey… Are you alright?” A soothing female voice spoke out to him, before a gentle hand rested upon his shoulder.  
She knelt down to be eye level with Genji, making it easier for him to see her face clearly, noticing the tattoo under her left eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we finally have the 'Narnia' like concept coming into play!... Where Genji passes back through into the world he's originally from, whilst also reverting back into a child.  
> The body he was in when he first left there.  
> He'll still retain his young adult mind, but is now trapped in a kids body.
> 
> Ever so sorry for the wait by the way!  
> I hope it'll be worth it though. This chapter felt like it was taking forever to write... Plus distractions.  
> Oh my gaaawd, I know how the story is gonna go, and i can't wait for Hanzo to make his appearance!
> 
> This story is influenced and themed round the film, Spirited away and also the draws created by theinsanefruitloop-chan (on tumblr)
> 
>  
> 
> Once again, sorry if there's any spelling and grammar errors.  
> If there are any, please message me! :D


	4. Unearthing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More is revealed about Hanzo, and it's not good

Genji recognized the woman’s tattoo to be the eye of Horus. It was then that he remembered seeing that Egyptian stone jar in the forest, which was mingling amongst all those other shrines… Were the two connected some how?  
  
The boy had never seen this silver haired woman before, but strangely her face seemed familiar. Comforting even… As if she was his guide and protector of this strange place.  
  
“Kid?” She interrupted the youngster’s thoughts, as he was just standing there and staring at her eye.  
  
Genji shook his head to focus. “I’m sorry… What was the question again?”  
  
“Haha, well aren’t you just adorable.” She softly chuckled.  
“I asked if you were ok, sweetie.” The woman asked again as she playfully messed up the boys green hair.  
  
“I… I’m not sure… Yes?” He questioned himself as he tidied up the ruffled mess the woman had just made.  
  
“Haha, you’re not sure?” As she continued to chuckle at the youngsters sweetness.  
  
“I’m looking for my big brother, Hanzo… Do you know him?”  
  
The woman suddenly looked rather uneasy upon hearing said name. She even began to scan her surroundings, as if making sure no one was paying them any attention. All seemed clear.   
  
“Hanzo Shimada?” She leaned in to whisper.  
  
Shimada… Oh my goodness!!   
He remembered now that Shimada was his surname too. It had been years since he last heard it on his ears, and it seemed to have been blocked from his memory the day he left this place.   
Hearing it again had brought a nice healing warmth to his chest.  
  
“Yes!... Hanzo… Hanzo Shimada. I’m his younger brother, Genji.”  
  
The boys eyes began to well up with happiness as a huge, sweet smile stretched across his face. He felt so overwhelmingly happy and relieved that he was finally getting somewhere.   
But that happiness soon began to slip away, as the woman’s expression spelt only bad news.   
Oh no…   
  
“Is he… Is he ok?... He’s not dead, is he??”   
His stomach turned violently and he started to feel awfully sick, as those happy tears soon turned into sad ones.  
  
“We should really talk somewhere more private… Come.” As she held out her hand for him to take.  
  
Fat tears formed fast as Genji clutched at his aching chest. The boy felt like the sensitive child he used to be, unable to control himself. His tiredness weren’t helping his emotions one bit in such circumstances.   
Genji fell onto his knees and began sobbing his little heart out. But he was soon picked up off the floor again and hugged tightly by the woman.  
  
“Hey, Hey!... Shhh shh shhh… He’s ok, sweetie. Your brother is ok.” She cooed softly as she tried to comfort the youngster by rubbing his back.   
“Come on, now. There’s no need to cry.”  
  
But it was too late for that.  
The floodgates were now opened and Genji couldn’t seem to stop himself, no matter how hard he, or the woman tried.   
  
\-----  
  
Genji had woken up in what looked like a cabin, all wrapped up in a red serape to keep warm. The fabric smelled a little smoky, but it didn’t bother him too much.  
He didn’t remember falling asleep in the woman’s arms, or the journey they took to reach this place.  
  
“Ay, Ana… I think the kid’s awake.” A rather deep voice sounded from beside the boy, which also startled the youngster to wake up fully.  
  
“W-Who are you?.” Genji sat up quickly, his eyes fixed upon the man sitting beside him.  
The guy looked like a young cowboy from one of those western tv shows, who was no older than twenty six, twenty seven maybe, with a short trimmed beard along his jawline and a small tuft on his chin.   
  
“Da names Jesse… Jesse McCree.” The cowboy greeted with a tip of his hat.  
  
“Ya already met Ana there.” He then indicated with a small head tilt towards the silver haired woman, who was now walking over to them with two bowls of delicious smelling food.  
  
That smell was ever so good that it made Genji’s stomach grumble, and a loud grumble at that.  
  
“My, you must be very hungry.” Ana sweetly chuckled as she sat by both boys, handing them their bowls. “And you must have been very tired too-”  
  
“Yeah… Ana ere said you cried yourself to sleep.” Jesse interrupted, just before he received a light elbow to his ribs; which in turn, made him squeak and grip his bowl tighter to save his food from spilling.  
  
“Did you sleep ok?” Ana managed to finish.  
  
Come to think of it, he did sleep ok. It may have not been the way he wanted to fall asleep, but at least he didn’t have that same nightmare again.  
In fact, he didn’t even dream at all.  
It was a short moment of darkness and then he woke up here in this cabin.  
  
Genji was so hungry and the food was just too good that his head hardly left the bowl. He at least managed to hum ‘Mmm hmm’ with a mouth full of soup though, to indicate yes, he did sleep ok.   
  
And with the food done and his tummy filled, the boy bowed his head out of respect and thanked Ana for the meal; before going back to the conversation back at the market place.  
  
“Can you tell me what happened to my brother now?”   
  
“Ah yes… Well, you see… Hanzo has-”  
  
“Wait a moment der, Ana!” Jessie interrupted yet again. “Hanz’s brother went missing, right?… Or so I was told.”  
  
Ana looked over at the cowboy with a raised brow, wondering where he was going with this.  
  
“So if dis ere kid is him, den why ain’t he… You know… Older?”   
  
Jesse wasn’t wrong there, but Genji didn’t know how to explain it in a way that would make any sense, or sound less crazy.   
  
“I am older… I just don’t know how. I was put into this body when I came though that building with the clock tower…”  
  
The cowboy rubbed at his small chin fluff and leaned in towards Genji, with a puzzling look upon his charming features. Like he was a novice detective scanning for clues.  
  
“Well… I can’t exactly say that stuff like that dun happen ere in this magical world.” As Jessie chose to believe in the boys short story.   
  
“Ok, You can continue.” He then indicated back to Ana.  
  
“Oh, thanks.” She exasperated then sighed, before turning her gaze back onto Genji. Her face going from annoyed to instantly soft and comforting.  
  
“Hanzo has been cursed by the witch who’s taken over the Shimada Castle.” She spoke reassuringly to the boy, hoping he wouldn’t get too upset.  
  
“Turning into ah big ole mean Oni!” Jesse interrupted yet again.  
  
“Would you like to tell the story, or can I continue?” She snarled at the cowboy like a lioness telling off a naughty cub.  
  
“An… An Oni?” Genji looked dismayed.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goodness, this took me a loooong time to write.  
> I'm ever so sorry for the long wait!
> 
> A long story short, I had two surgeries done on my arm, and the pain I was experiencing was getting me down and knocking my motivation to continue.  
> But now that I’m recovering, I’m now getting back onto it!
> 
> HANZO WILL SHOW UP SOON!... MMMMAYBE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!  
> KEEP READING TO FIND OUT, KIDOS!
> 
> This story is influenced and themed round the film, Spirited away and also the draws created by theinsanefruitloop-chan (on tumblr)
> 
> Also a special thanks to blacksmiley-c (who's also on tumblr), for boosting my motivation and for being such an inspirational artist! 
> 
> Sorry if there's any spelling and grammar errors.  
> If there are any, please message me! :D


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